Derby witnesses first total washout since 1981, teams left frustrated
The previous instance of a County Championship game getting completely washed out in Derby dates back to May 1981, when a Derby-Nottinghamshire clash was abandoned without a ball bowled.
The eagerly-awaited clash between Derbyshire and Gloucestershire in Division 2 of the County Championship, with the cricketing fraternity having a chance to witness the likes of Samit Patel, Mohamad Amir, Cameron Bancroft, and Marchant de Lange among others, culminated in quite an anti-climax-, without a ball being bowled.
Persistent rainfall in the preceding weeks saturated the outfield of the Incora County Ground, rendering it unsuitable for first-class cricket. The match was supposed to commence on 5th April, but consistent rain turned out to be the undoing, with the final writing on the wall being the rain which poured down on Sunday night, after which umpires Ian Blackwell and Neil Pratt deemed the match to be called off after an inspection conducted at 9:45 am on the fourth and final day of the match.
According to the scoring system of the County Championship, both the teams were awarded eight points each, with Derbyshire travelling away to Cardiff to face Glamorgan, while Gloucestershire hosting Yorkshire in Bristol.
Head of Cricket of Derbyshire, Mickey Arthur, the South African who's coached the men's teams of South Africa, Australia, and Pakistan in the past, expressed his annoyance, stating that it was disheartening for the group to extensively toil in the buildup to the season, and not getting a chance to prove themselves on the field. However, Arthur said that with the sort of rain pouring down in the recent past, it didn't come out as something of a bombshell to the team that the game panned out the way it did.
"It's incredibly frustrating. We work and work for the start of the season and then we don't get on, so it's very deflating. Everything about the last four days has been very frustrating. But we kind of had an idea going into this game, you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to walk out there and think you might not get on," Arthur stated.
He also added that the team management had planned an off on Tuesday for the team to revitalize themselves, post which Wednesday and Thursday would be days which would include training being resumed as well as the trip to Cardiff.
"We'll have a day off tomorrow, the boys need to mentally refresh, then come in Wednesday and we'll train again, and then we will be ready to go down at Cardiff," added Arthur.
Head coach of Gloucestershire, Mark Alleyne, voiced out his dissatisfaction as well, but said that it's a part-and-parcel of the English season, which involves frequent rain with such weather being quite typical. He also emphasized that a minor setback such as this wouldn't leave them flustered, with their eyes still on the prime target of focusing on the next assessment.
"I never really processed that one so it's really disappointing that we didn't get out there. But we do know it's part-and-parcel of the English season so, as disappointing as it is, it's not going to derail what we look to do next, we are going to crack on and get ready for the next challenge," said Alleyne.
Alleyne further went on to compliment the rigorous dedication and outlook his team had during the four days in which they should've ideally been outdoors competing with the other team, and that was a real plus point for him.
"For the players to maintain such a strong work ethic and great attitude even though we weren't playing is a real takeaway for me, they've been brilliant these four days," noted Alleyne.
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